Bulk message identification

• US 7,925,709 B1
• Filed: 12/05/2008
• Issued: 04/12/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/07/2002
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AOL Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Koschier, Sylvia M., Ben-Yoseph, Roy
• Primary Examiner(s): Vaughn, Jr., William C
• Assistant Examiner(s): CHRISTENSEN, SCOTT B
• Application Number:
  US12/328,851
• Time in Patent Office: 858 Days
• Field of Search: 709/204, 709/206
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/212 using filtering or selective blocking

Abstract

Distinctively treating digital communications sent by bulk message senders includes providing a set of bulk sender behavior policies and monitoring compliance by a bulk message sender with the set of policies. Based on compliance by the bulk message sender with the set of policies, digital communications sent by the bulk message sender are distinctively treated.

Claims

1. A method of handling distinctive treatment of electronic messages sent by at least one of a plurality of bulk message senders, the method comprising:

providing a set of bulk message policies, wherein the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders has agreed to comply with the set of bulk message policies in exchange for distinctive treatment of electronic messages sent by the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders;

applying filtering, including white listing based on white list information, to inbound electronic messages, the white listing comprising providing, to the inbound electronic messages, a first level of distinctive treatment that is preferential to regular treatment of electronic messages;

receiving a first electronic message sent by the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders;

accessing, from a data record, sender compliance information that is additional to the white list information and associated with the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders, the sender compliance information being determined by;

electronically aggregating information associated with the sending, by the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders, of electronic messages sent prior to receiving the first electronic message;

electronically analyzing the electronically aggregated information associated with the sending, by the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders, of electronic messages sent prior to receiving the first electronic message;

electronically determining whether the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders is complying with a set of bulk message policies based on the electronic analysis of the electronically aggregated information associated with the sending, by the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders, of electronic messages sent prior to receiving the first electronic message, and

determining the sender compliance information that is additional to the white list information and associated with the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders based on the determination of whether the bulk message sender is complying with the set of bulk message policies;

determining whether to provide a second level of distinctive treatment to the first electronic message based on the accessed sender compliance information that is additional to the white list information and associated with the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders, the second level of distinctive treatment being preferential to the first level of distinctive treatment; and

providing the second level of distinctive treatment to the first electronic message in response to determining to provide the second level of distinctive treatment to the first electronic message.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein:

electronically aggregating information includes electronically aggregating the information without human intervention;

electronically analyzing the electronically aggregated information includes electronically analyzing the electronically aggregated information without human intervention; and

electronically determining whether the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders is complying with the set of bulk message policies based on the electronic analysis of the electronically aggregated information includes electronically determining whether the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders is complying with the set of bulk message policies without human intervention.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein:

providing, to the inbound electronic messages, the first level of distinctive treatment that is preferential to regular treatment of electronic messages includes providing the first level of distinctive treatment to messages received from senders that have maintained at least a first level of compliance with the set of bulk message policies; and

electronically determining whether the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders is complying with a set of bulk message policies includes electronically determining whether the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders has maintained at least a second level of compliance with the set of bulk message policies, the second level of compliance being different from the first level of compliance.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising:

placing a particular sender on a white list;

providing the first level of distinctive treatment to electronic messages received from the particular sender based on the particular sender being placed on the white list;

determining whether the particular sender has maintained at least the second level of compliance with the set of bulk message policies over a first time interval;

in response to determining that the particular sender has maintained at least the second level of compliance with the set of bulk message policies over the first time interval, placing the particular sender on an approved bulk mail sender list; and

providing the second level of distinctive treatment to electronic messages received from the particular sender based on the particular sender being placed on the approved bulk mail sender list.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein:

electronically aggregating information associated with the sending, by the bulk message sender, of electronic messages comprises electronically aggregating information associated with a format of electronic messages sent by the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders; and

electronically determining whether the bulk message sender is complying with the set of bulk message policies comprises determining whether the bulk message sender is complying with a set of bulk message policies relating to a format of electronic messages.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein:

electronically aggregating information associated with the sending, by the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders, of electronic messages comprises electronically aggregating information associated with whether the bulk message sender has provided non-Internet contact information in electronic messages sent by the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders; and

electronically determining whether the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders is complying with the set of bulk message policies comprises determining whether the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders is complying with a set of bulk message policies including a requirement that the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders provide non-Internet contact information in electronic messages.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein:

electronically aggregating information associated with the sending, by the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders, of electronic messages comprises electronically aggregating information associated with whether the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders has sent electronic messages from a site with a dynamically assigned Internet Protocol address; and

electronically determining whether the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders is complying with the set of bulk message policies comprises determining whether the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders is complying with a set of bulk message policies including a requirement that the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders not send electronic messages from a site with a dynamically assigned Internet Protocol address.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein:

electronically aggregating information associated with the sending, by the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders, of electronic messages comprises electronically tracking information associated with the amount of electronic messages returned to the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders as undeliverable over a predetermined time interval; and

electronically determining whether the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders is complying with the set of bulk message policies comprises determining whether the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders is complying with a set of bulk message policies including a requirement that not more than a predetermined amount of electronic messages be returned to the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders as undeliverable over the predetermined time interval.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein:

electronically aggregating information associated with the sending, by the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders, of electronic messages comprises electronically tracking information associated with the amount of electronic messages accepted by the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders that are returned to the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders as undeliverable over a predetermined time interval; and

electronically determining whether the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders is complying with the set of bulk message policies comprises

determining whether the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders is complying with a set of bulk message policies including a requirement that the bulk message sender accept more than a predetermined amount of electronic messages that are returned to

the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders as undeliverable over the predetermined time interval.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein:

electronically aggregating information associated with the sending, by the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders, of electronic messages comprises electronically aggregating information associated with whether the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders has sent electronic messages using relays open to third party relaying; and

electronically determining whether the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders is complying with the set of bulk message policies comprises determining whether the bulk message sender is complying with a set of bulk message policies including a requirement that relays used by the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders to send electronic messages be closed to third party relaying.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein:

electronically aggregating information associated with the sending, by the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders, of electronic messages comprises electronically aggregating information associated with whether the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders has sent electronic messages using relays that hardcode mail exchange records of a mail system configured to receive the electronic messages; and

electronically determining whether the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders is complying with the set of bulk message policies comprises determining whether the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders is complying with a set of bulk message policies including a requirement that relays used by the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders to send electronic messages not hardcode mail exchange records of the mail system configured to receive the electronic messages.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein:

electronically aggregating information associated with the sending, by the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders, of electronic messages comprises electronically tracking information associated with whether the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders has sent electronic messages to an address of a recipient designated as undeliverable due to a permanent delivery failure; and

electronically determining whether the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders is complying with the set of bulk message policies comprises

determining whether the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders is complying with a set of bulk message policies including a requirement that the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders not send future electronic messages to an address of a recipient if an electronic message sent to the address is designated as undeliverable due to a permanent delivery failure.

13. A method of handling distinctive treatment of electronic messages sent by at least one of a plurality of bulk message senders, the method comprising:

obtaining an agreement between a messaging service provider and the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders that the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders agrees to comply with a set of bulk message policies in exchange for distinctive treatment of electronic messages sent by the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders;

storing, in a data record, information indicating that digital communications sent by the bulk message sender receive distinctive treatment based on the bulk message sender complying with the set of bulk message policies;

receiving, from the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders, electronic messages;

based on the agreement that the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders agrees to comply with the set of bulk message policies in exchange for distinctive treatment of electronic messages sent by the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders, handling the electronic messages received from the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders distinctively from electronic messages received from other senders that have not agreed to comply with the set of bulk message policies in exchange for distinctive treatment of electronic messages;

monitoring whether the electronic messages that have been received from the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders and that have been handled distinctively comply with the set of bulk message policies;

determining whether to continue handling electronic messages received from the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders distinctively from electronic messages received from other senders that have not agreed to comply with the set of bulk message policies in exchange for distinctive treatment of electronic messages based on the monitoring of whether the electronic messages that have been received from the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders and that have been handled distinctively comply with the set of bulk message policies; and

updating the information stored in the data record based on the determination of whether to continue handling electronic messages from the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders distinctively from electronic messages received from other senders that have not agreed to comply with the set of bulk message policies in exchange for distinctive treatment of electronic messages.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein obtaining the agreement between the messaging service provider and the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders that the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders agrees to comply with the set of bulk message policies in exchange for distinctive treatment of electronic messages sent by the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders includes obtaining the agreement between the messaging service provider and the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders by one or more system operators of an electronic mail system.

15. The method of claim 13 wherein obtaining the agreement between the messaging service provider and the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders that the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders agrees to comply with the set of bulk message policies in exchange for distinctive treatment of electronic messages sent by the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders includes manually obtaining the agreement between the messaging service provider and the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders.

16. The method of claim 13 wherein obtaining the agreement between the messaging service provider and the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders that the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders agrees to comply with the set of bulk message policies in exchange for distinctive treatment of electronic messages sent by the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders includes electronically obtaining the agreement between the messaging service provider and the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders.

17. The method of claim 13 wherein obtaining the agreement between the messaging service provider and the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders that the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders agrees to comply with the set of bulk message policies in exchange for distinctive treatment of electronic messages sent by the bulk message sender includes:

presenting a display of the set of bulk message policies to the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders; and

receiving, from the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders, an indication that the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders agrees to comply with the set of bulk message policies.

18. The method of claim 13 further comprising:

performing initial technical compliance tests to verify whether a message sending system used by the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders is secure and technically able to comply with the set of bulk mail policies,

wherein handling the electronic messages received from the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders distinctively from electronic messages received from other senders that have not agreed to comply with the set of bulk message policies in exchange for distinctive treatment of electronic messages is conditioned on results of the initial technical compliance tests revealing that the message sending system used by the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders is secure and technically able to comply with the set of bulk mail policies.

19. A method of handling distinctive treatment of electronic messages sent by at least one of a plurality of bulk message senders, the method comprising:

providing sender compliance information associated with the at least one bulk message sender indicating that the bulk message sender has agreed to comply with a set of bulk message policies and has been complying with said set of bulk message policies;

receiving, from the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders, electronic messages;

determining to handle the electronic messages received from the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders distinctively from electronic messages received from other senders based on the sender compliance information associated with the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders;

based on a determination to handle the electronic messages received from the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders distinctively from electronic messages received from other senders, handling the electronic messages received from the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders distinctively from electronic messages received from other senders;

monitoring whether the electronic messages that have been received from the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders and that have been handled distinctively comply with the set of bulk message policies;

based on the monitoring, determining that the electronic messages that have been received from the bulk message sender and that have been handled distinctively comply with the set of bulk message policies; and

in response to a determination that the electronic messages that have been received from the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders and that have been handled distinctively do not comply with the set of bulk message policies;

generating a noncompliance report that informs the bulk message sender of the noncompliance with the set of bulk message policies;

sending the noncompliance report to the bulk message sender; and

updating the compliance information associated with the at least one bulk message sender.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein generating the noncompliance report that informs the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders of the noncompliance with the set of bulk message policies comprises generating a noncompliance report that includes a list of the bulk message policies that are currently being violated by the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders and that requests a corrective action plan from the at least one of the plurality of bulk message senders.